gate chippendale susan

I'm back.  I'm rejoicing, even if you aren't.

"Good art should elicit a response of 'Huh?  Wow!' as opposed to 'Wow!  Huh?'"  Ed Ruscha

These are strange days for you Leos. One phase is over and the next one hasn't yet begun. However, in this fleeting moment of betwixt and between, you have a special opportunity to respond to the metamorphosis as it unfolds, without being burdened with your own baggage. Dilemmas seem to come at you from different directions. Take your time with each individual choice, honor your priorities and make the best decisions for your long-term growth.  Horrors.

Arrived back at midnight last night, my bag had been searched and it looked like a tobacco factory exploded all over my stuff-  little crumbs on everything that were not there when I packed.  And they put my computer back in it's case upside down and also full of crumbs.  Ick.  Anyway, I've spent the morning putting stuff away and taking a long shower (ummm, airplane toilets maybe?)  You get the picture.  

Had a nice breakfast with my son yesterday but was interrupted by my downstairs neighbor's hysterical call that her bathroom ceiling was leaking and MY bathroom was right above it so it must be MY problem.  Raced home to find every water driven thing in that bathroom bone dry-  and the washer/dryer. hot water heater, and AC units are all tucked into that room along with the usual water-bearing suspects.  Had to wait for the plumbers who didn't seem at all concerned but told my neighbor that the first thing they have to do is take out her ceiling to see what's going on.  And that was the end of that!  All of a sudden her major gushing water turned into a few drips that were landing directly in the bathtub.  And I caught a cab out of town as fast as the Haitian could drive.  

Unfortunately she has my cell phone number.

So, back to the cab-  He was a young guy with a very thick accent and constantly calling his 12 year old and screaming at him about his homework, then calling around looking for somebody to pick him up for basketball practice, then back to the kid about turning off the tv.  Finally, since I have Been There in spades, I broke in and started asking him about the kid and you couldn't have found a prouder father in eastern Massachusetts.  He went on and on about what a good kid he is but his 92 in math this test will deteriorate to an 86 next week, then an 80 and the downhill slide some of us know so well.  His threat to the kid was to not let him play basketball.  I pushed my nosey self in and said no, basketball is Good, don't let him watch tv.  And proceeded to tell him how we had to keep our tv in a locked cabinet because #1 son was sneaking downstairs at 2 AM to watch school-night movies and OF COURSE wasn't doing well in school from his midnight wanderings.  I bought a big padlock where I could set the code and used HIS NAME as the code because I knew that would never be  tried.  LOCKS:  see below.  Heh heh-  first time I told anybody that.  Anyway, the son I was having breakfast with is the same one and he turned out better than fine, he just took a circuitous route. 

(do you know when you google cell-phone-clipart that not a single iPhone comes up?)

So, my latest thing to do is to get a baby quilt banged out that will please the whole little family.  I am going the Modern Quilt route, something simple and graphic and serviceable.  The horse was a hit with my son but since he didn't take it home he was probably lying too.  So today I do some research and pick some colors and get this underway.  I had some good feedback when I took it to crit group the other night-  I was met with stony silence.  See Ed Ruscha quote above.  Means it ain't a 'go' and I am back to the drawing board.  Circus horse as dog bed.  There goes 10 years work-  with a 9 year vaca in between spurts.


Hey, how 'bout some ART?

Impossible shapes painted on walls of abandoned buildings    French artist and photographer Fanette Guilloud works with space, in three dimensions, to create mind-bending illusions. Inspired by the work of Georges Rousse, a famous French photographer, master of anamorphosis, Fanette transforms the walls and floors of abandoned buildings by painting geometric shapes, which she then photographs from a certain vantage point, revealing whimsical illusions of color and shape in space.  

plastic stuff, by color

Oh my, I had a collection of about 20 of these at one point, sold them all back to the world's scrap heap at garage sales.  Who's sorry now?  (Connie Francis, 1956)

More about locks, above.

  Hoarding gets a bad rap, and there are certainly compulsive collectors who could use some time in therapy, but what about a guy who owns 5,000 pairs of scissors? In the grips of a reality show producer, he’d be made to look like a loon, but when viewed through Portland-based photographer Jim Golden’s lens, the same pack rat seems like a canny curator.  This one is for Terry because she has this many I'm sure!

Dog report-  Molly seems pretty good but the pee marks in the road in front of our house are copious and she is drinking her bowl dry in short periods.  before their big water bowl was filled once a day and would last- we are talking Florida summers too!  She ends her round of antibiotics tomorrow and heads back for more blood work this week.  TY made the follow-up appointment but didn't bother to actually write it down so I have to call later.  She happily gobbles the pills, but if they start her on doggie insulin it has to be by injections twice a day.  This is going to be tough, but better it happens to us than someone unfamiliar with diabetes and needles and glucose checks.  Injecting myself is no problem, just am not sure that I can do it to her as easily.